NYPD Has Capability To 'Take Down' Planes, Commissioner Says

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New York Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly revealed on CBS's 60 Minutes that the department has the ability to take down aircraft posing a threat to the city in a "very extreme situation."

Discussing the department's counterterrorism bureau, the largest of its kind in the nation, Kelly said after 9/11 the city realized that "we couldn't rely on the federal government alone."

Kelly would not go into detail on the department's capabilities, or even who would give the order — but for a police force, even the NYPD, to possess such authority is unprecedented and certain to draw scrutiny.

On September 11, 2001, Air Force jets scrambled over Washington in the event United Flight 93 continued on its course did not immediately have the authority to protect the city due to communications difficulties between President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfled, the 9/11 Commission found.

CBS News' Scott Pelley: Are you satisfied that you've dealt with threats from aircraft, even light planes, model planes, that kind of thing?

Kelly: Well, it's something that's on our radar screen. I mean in an extreme situation, you would have some means to take down a plane.

Pelley: Do you mean to say that the NYPD has the means to take down an aircraft?

Kelly: Yes, I prefer not to get into the details but obviously this would be in a very extreme situation.